My First Job after University

Yanelys Nuñez Leyva

HAVANA TIMES — After having completed difficult studies at the University of Havana, I now have the privilege of working for one of the most prestigious magazines in our country: Revolucion y Cultura.

This publication, founded in the early 1960s, has played an important role in Cuban cultural history.

In its pages one can find features, critiques, stories, interviews — in short — a variety of literary expressions inquiring into various issues and human problems, all equally diverse.

A review of its innumerable editions aimed at studying cultural phenomena occurring on the island reveals this periodical to be indispensable for students and specialists alike.

For this reason, one of my tasks at this institution is to construct a kind of catalog (divided by artistic disciplines and other headings). This will serve to link all the visual arts articles published in recent years by the journal to facilitate searches for information by researchers.

Connected to the history of the publication is “Espacio Abierto” (Open Space), an art gallery located at this center in Havana’s Vedado district.

The gallery has brought together the most prominent creators of national art as well as lesser-known exponents.

Among the significant promotional works undertaken by Espacio Abierto are inclusions in the affiliated magazine of brief summaries of the traveling exhibitions of the moment.

Under the guidance of art historian Israel Leon Castellanos (a journalist with Revolucion y Cultura and the person who’s also responsible for the gallery’s curatorial projects), I will be learning how to organize exhibitions in this hall. This is another of the activities assigned to me by the institution and is closely related to my current stage of training.

I’m deeply satisfied to be part of this publication — led by the outstanding scholar Luisa Campuzano — not only because of the cultural values it represents, but also for the learning opportunities it’s providing me.